4 .TH MH-PROFILE %manext5% "%nmhdate%" MH.6.8 [%nmhversion%]
6 mh-profile \- user profile customization for nmh message handler
8 .I $HOME/.mh\(ruprofile
12 is expected to have a file named
14 in his or her home directory. This file contains
15 a set of user parameters used by some or all of the
17 family of programs. Each entry in the file is of the format
20 .IR profile\-component ": " value
23 If the text of profile entry is long, you may extend it across several
24 real lines by indenting the continuation lines with leading spaces or tabs.
25 Comments may be introduced by a line starting with `#:':
32 Blank lines are not permitted in
35 .SS "Standard Profile Entries"
36 The possible profile components are exemplified below. The only mandatory
37 entry is `Path:'. The others are optional; some have default values if
38 they are not present. In the notation used below, (profile, default)
39 indicates whether the information is kept in the user's
43 context, and indicates what the default value is.
50 transactions in directory \*(lqMail\*(rq. This is the
51 only mandatory profile entry. (profile, no default)
57 Declares the location of the
59 context file. This is overridden by the environment variable
64 (profile, default: <nmh\-dir>/context)
70 Keeps track of the current open folder.
71 (context, default: folder specified by \*(lqInbox\*(rq)
77 Defines the name of your default inbox.
78 (profile, default: inbox)
81 .BR Previous\-Sequence :
84 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as the `msgs' or
85 `msg' argument given to any
87 command. If not present or empty,
88 no such sequences are defined. Otherwise, for each name given, the
89 sequence is first zero'd and then each message is added to the sequence.
92 man page for the details about this sequence. (profile, no default)
95 .BR Sequence\-Negation :
98 Defines the string which, when prefixed to a sequence name, negates
99 that sequence. Hence, \*(lqnotseen\*(rq means all those messages that
100 are not a member of the sequence \*(lqseen\*(rq. Read the
102 man page for the details. (profile, no default)
105 .BR Unseen\-Sequence :
108 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as those
109 messages which are unread. The commands
115 will add or remove messages from these
116 sequences when they are incorporated or read. If not present or
117 empty, no such sequences are defined. Otherwise, each message is
118 added to, or removed from, each sequence name given. Read the
120 man page for the details about this sequence.
121 (profile, no default)
127 The name of the file in each folder which defines public sequences.
128 To disable the use of public sequences, leave the value portion of this
129 entry blank. (profile, default: \&.mh\(rusequences)
132 .BI atr\- seq \- folder :
135 Keeps track of the private sequence called \*(lqseq\*(rq in the specified
136 folder. Private sequences are generally used for read\-only folders.
139 man page for details about private sequences.
140 (context, no default)
146 Defines the editor to be used by the commands
152 (profile, default: %default_editor%)
157 If defined and set to 1, then the
159 program will automatically
160 invoke the buildmimeproc (discussed below) to process each message as a MIME
161 composition draft before it is sent.
162 (profile, no default)
168 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new message files.
171 for an explanation of the octal number.
172 (profile, default: 0600)
175 .BR Folder\-Protect :
178 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new folder
181 for an explanation of the octal number.
182 (profile, default: 700)
188 Sets default switches to be used whenever the mh program
190 is invoked. For example, one could override the \*(lqEditor:\*(rq profile
191 component when replying to messages by adding a component such as:
194 repl: \-editor /bin/ed
197 (profile, no defaults)
200 .IB lasteditor "-next:"
203 Names \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq to be the default editor after using
204 \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq. This takes effect at \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt
212 the draft with \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq, the default editor is set to be
213 \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq. If the user types \*(lqedit\*(rq without any
214 arguments to \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq, then \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq is used.
215 (profile, no default)
221 The contents of the folder-stack for the
224 (context, no default)
228 Your Username <user@some.host>
230 Tells the various MH tools what your local mailbox is. If set, will be used
231 by the default component files by tools like
235 to construct your default \*(lqFrom\*(rq header. The text used here will
236 be copied exactly to your From: header, so it should already be RFC-822
237 compliant. If this is set, the
239 profile entry is NOT used, so it should include a signature as well. (profile,
240 default: userid@local.hostname)
243 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes :
244 mh@uci\-750a, bug-mh*
250 which addresses are really yours.
253 knows which addresses should be included in the
256 knows if the message really originated from you.
257 Addresses must be separated by a comma, and the hostnames listed should
258 be the \*(lqofficial\*(rq hostnames for the mailboxes you indicate, as
259 local nicknames for hosts are not replaced with their official site names.
260 For each address, if a host is not given, then that address on any host is
261 considered to be you. In addition, an asterisk (`*') may appear at either
262 or both ends of the mailbox and host to indicate wild-card matching.
263 (profile, default: your user-id)
270 Indicates aliases files for
275 This may be used instead of the
278 switch. (profile, no default)
284 Indicates a default draft folder for
293 man page for details. (profile, no default)
296 .BI digest\-issue\- list :
301 the last issue of the last volume sent for the digest
303 (context, no default)
306 .BI digest\-volume\- list :
311 the last volume sent for the digest
313 (context, no default)
321 your maildrop, if different from the default. This is
322 superseded by the environment variable
324 (profile, default: %mailspool%/$USER)
328 RAND MH System (agent: Marshall Rose)
332 your mail signature. This is superseded by the
337 is not set and this profile entry is not present, the \*(lqgcos\*(rq field of
338 the \fI/etc/passwd\fP file will be used.
339 Your signature will be added to the address
341 puts in the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header; do not include an address in the
342 signature text. (profile, no default)
345 .SS "Process Profile Entries"
346 The following profile elements are used whenever an
348 program invokes some other program such as
352 can be used to select alternate programs if the
353 user wishes. The default values are given in the examples.
359 This is the program used by
361 to process drafts which are MIME composition files.
367 This program is used to refile or link a message to another folder.
370 to file a copy of a message into a folder given
371 by a \*(lqFcc:\*(rq field. It is used by the draft folder facility in
378 message into another folder. It is used to refile a draft message in
381 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.
388 to filter a component when it is tagged with the \*(lqformat\*(rq variable
389 in the mhl filter. See
391 for more information.
399 to incorporate new mail when it
400 is invoked with no arguments.
406 This program is called to initialize the environment for
414 This program is used to list the contents of a message in response
417 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt. It is
418 also used by the draft folder facility in
424 to display the draft message.
430 This is the program used to automatically mail various messages
431 and notifications. It is used by
435 option. It is used by
437 to post failure notices.
438 It is used to retrieve an external-body with access-type `mail-server'
439 (such as when storing the body with
446 This is the program used to filter messages in various ways. It
449 to filter and display the message headers
450 of MIME messages. When the
461 is used to filter the
462 message that you are forwarding, or to which you are replying.
469 is used to filter the copy of the message
470 that is sent to \*(lqBcc:\*(rq recipients.
476 This is the program used by
480 formatted message when displaying to a terminal. It is also the default
483 to display message bodies (or message parts) of type text/plain.
501 This is the program used by
510 post a message to the mail transport system. It is also called by
512 (called with the switches
516 to do address verification.
522 This is the program used by
526 to delete a message from a folder.
532 This is the program to use by
534 to actually send the message
540 This is the program used by
542 to process and display non-text (MIME) messages.
548 This is the program used by
550 to filter and display text (non-MIME) messages.
556 This is the program invoked by
562 to query about the disposition of a composed draft message.
568 This is the program used by
570 to determine to whom a message would be sent.
573 .SS "Environment Variables"
576 and its commands it also controlled by the
577 presence of certain environment variables.
579 Many of these environment variables are used internally by the
580 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface. It's amazing all the information
581 that has to get passed via environment variables to make the
582 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface look squeaky clean to the
584 user, isn't it? The reason for all this is that the
592 one of the standard shells. As a result, it's not possible to pass
593 information via an argument list. The convention is that environment
594 variables whose names are all upper-case are user-settable; those
595 whose names are lower-case only are used internally by nmh and should
596 not generally be set by the user.
600 option was set during
603 if this environment variable is set, then if the commands
609 are not given any `msgs'
610 arguments, then they will default to using the file indicated by
612 This is useful for getting the default behavior
613 supplied by the default
618 With this environment variable, you can specify a profile
624 that you invoke. If the value of
626 is not absolute, (i.e., does
627 not begin with a \*(lq/\*(rq), it will be presumed to start from the current
628 working directory. This is one of the very few exceptions in
630 where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's
637 With this environment variable, you can specify a
638 context other than the normal context file (as specified in
641 profile). As always, unless the value of
643 is absolute, it will be presumed to start from your
650 With this environment variable, you can specify an
651 additional user profile (file) to be read by
653 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
658 With this environment variable, you can specify an
659 additional user profile (file) to be read by
661 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
663 is deprecated, so this support for this variable will
664 be removed from a future nmh release.
669 With this environment variable, you can specify an
670 additional user profile (file) to be read by
672 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
677 With this environment variable, you can specify an
678 additional user profile (file) to be read by
680 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
685 With this environment variable, you can specify
686 the native character set you are using. You must be able to display
687 this character set on your terminal.
689 This variable is checked to see if a RFC-2047 header field should be
702 be called, since showmimeproc will be called if a text message uses
703 a character set that doesn't match
708 for matches against the charset parameter
709 of text contents to decide it the text content can be displayed
710 without modifications to your terminal. This variable is checked by
712 to decide what character set to specify in the charset
713 parameter of text contents containing 8\-bit characters.
715 When decoding text in such an alternate character set,
717 must be able to determine which characters are alphabetic, which
718 are control characters, etc. For many operating systems, this
719 will require enabling the support for locales (such as setting
720 the environment variable
727 If this variable is set,
729 will next test for MIME messages. This mechanism is obsolete;
741 the default maildrop. This supersedes the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
748 the POP host to query for mail to incorporate. See the
749 inc(1) man page for more information.
752 .B $USERNAME_EXTENSION
754 This variable is for use with username_extension masquerading. See the
755 mh-tailor(5) man page.
764 your mail signature. This supersedes the \*(lqSignature\*(rq profile entry.
773 your default maildrop: see the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
778 This variable tells all
780 programs your home directory
789 The environment variable
791 is also consulted. In particular,
796 how to clear your terminal, and how
797 many columns wide your terminal is. They also tell
800 lines long your terminal screen is.
805 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the
806 name of the mail transport configuration file to use by
809 and other programs that interact with the mail transport system,
810 instead of the default. See mh-tailor(5).
815 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the name of
816 a mail transport configuration file to be read in addition to the
817 default. See mh-tailor(5).
824 These variables are searched, in order, for the directory in which to
825 create some temporary files.
830 Setting this variable is set to 1 has the same effect as specifying
840 OBSOLETE: will be removed in a future version of nmh.
845 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
847 will emit debugging information.
852 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
854 will emit a representation of the search pattern.
859 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
863 will display their interaction with the POP server.
864 This mechanism is obsolete; use the
871 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
873 commands that use the
874 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes
875 profile entry will display debugging information
876 about the values in that entry.
881 This is the alternate message.
887 during edit sessions so you can
888 peruse the message being distributed or replied to. The message is also
889 available through a link called \*(lq@\*(rq in the current directory if
890 your current working directory and the folder the message lives in are
891 on the same UNIX filesystem.
896 This is the path to the working draft.
906 which file to ask \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq
919 about an alternate message associated with the
920 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
925 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
931 during edit sessions so you
932 can peruse other messages in the current folder besides the one being
933 distributed or replied to. The environment variable
951 that message re-distribution is occurring.
965 editor (unless overridden by
982 if annotations are to occur.
992 if annotations are to occur.
1002 if annotations are to occur.
1008 .ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
1009 ^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
1010 ^or $MH~^Rather than the standard profile
1011 ^<mh\-dir>/context~^The user context
1012 ^or $MHCONTEXT~^Rather than the standard context
1013 ^<folder>/\&.mh\(rusequences~^Public sequences for <folder>
1017 nmh(1), environ(5), mh-sequence(5)
1022 contains only static information, which
1026 update. Changes in context are made to the
1028 file kept in the users
1031 This includes, but is not limited to: the \*(lqCurrent\-Folder\*(rq entry
1032 and all private sequence information. Public sequence information is
1033 kept in each folder in the file determined by the \*(lqmh\-sequences\*(rq
1034 profile entry (default is
1035 .IR \&.mh\(rusequences ).
1039 may override the path of the
1041 file, by specifying a \*(lqcontext\*(rq entry (this must be in
1042 lower-case). If the entry is not absolute (does not start with a
1043 \*(lq/\*(rq), then it is interpreted relative to the user's
1045 directory. As a result, you can actually have more than one set of
1046 private sequences by using different context files.
1049 The shell quoting conventions are not available in the
1050 .IR \&.mh\(ruprofile .
1051 Each token is separated by whitespace.
1053 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
1054 in the profile as options. In order to provide a clear answer, recall
1055 command line semantics of all
1057 programs: conflicting switches
1062 may occur more than one time on the
1063 command line, with the last switch taking effect. Other arguments, such
1064 as message sequences, filenames and folders, are always remembered on
1065 the invocation line and are not superseded by following arguments of
1066 the same type. Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their
1067 arguments) in the profile.
1069 If one finds that an
1071 program is being invoked again and again
1072 with the same arguments, and those arguments aren't switches, then there
1073 are a few possible solutions to this problem. The first is to create a
1079 of your choice. By giving this link a different name, you can create
1080 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
1083 command. Similarly, you could create a small shell script
1086 program of your choice with an alternate set
1087 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
1088 is preferable to this solution).
1092 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
1095 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
1098 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
1101 commands safely. (Recall that some
1104 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
1105 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)
projects / mmh / blob